In a breakdown of what had been a surprisingly bipartisan process, a panel drawing new state legislative districts Tuesday approved Democratic- drawn maps that set off a war of words with Republicans.

The vote set up a situation in which the maps approved Tuesday would give Democrats an even greater advantage than they would have had under maps the Colorado Supreme Court rejected two weeks ago after a challenge by Republicans.

Republicans hold a 33-32 majority in the state House, and even subtle changes could shift the House back to Democrats, who control the Senate by a 20-15 margin.

The 11-member Colorado Reapportionment Commission approved the new Democratic maps on 6-5 votes, with the panel's unaffiliated chairman, Mario Carrera, casting his critical vote with Democrats. Republican member Mario Nicolais had called Carrera a "wolf in sheep's clothing" for siding with Democrats.

"This is politically vindictive," Nicolais said at one point in the commission's meeting Tuesday.

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, a Democratic member on the panel, dismissed those comments as sour grapes.

"Nobody is happy," Webb said. "I've even had some Democrats call me who were unhappy" about the new maps.

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Republicans had complained that Democrats were allowed to turn in new maps Sunday night, past a Nov. 23 deadline Carrera had set. In fact, both parties had turned in maps Sunday night, though Republicans argued theirs were only corrected versions of maps turned in Nov. 23.

Carrera said the Nov. 23 deadline never was a drop-dead date and that Republicans had no one but themselves to blame for not submitting additional maps.

"They were outsmarted in terms of the approach that they took when they saw that there was a (Democratic) map submitted that was actually better than the maps they had drawn," Carrera said. "They were caught flat-footed, and they had nothing else other than to blame other people for their own lack of coordination."

The new maps now must go back to the Colorado Supreme Court, which could choose to throw them out and have the commission start over yet again.

The court this month threw out a first set of House and Senate maps, which, while being drawn by Democrats, were still approved on 8-3 and 9-2 votes, respectively. Agreeing with Republicans who had challenged the maps, the high court said too many counties were split by the plans.

Democrats said their new maps would reduce the number of instances where parts of one county are drawn into another from 30 to 16 in the House and from nine to seven in the Senate.

The maps rejected by the court also would have made 33 of 100 districts competitive, while the new Democratic maps would make 38 districts — 24 in the House and 14 in the Senate — competitive. Of those, nine races in the Senate and eight in the House would be highly competitive.

The latest Democratic maps would draw Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman into the same district as Sen. Keith King, both Colorado Springs Republicans. Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, R-Monument, would be drawn into the same district as Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan.

Finally, Reps. B.J. Nikkel, the majority whip, and Brian DelGrosso, both Loveland Republicans, would also face a contest.

Republicans complained that no Democratic incumbents would be drawn into the same districts together, though some Democratic incumbents would be drawn into districts with Republican incumbents.

Asked if it was a strategic mistake for Republicans to challenge the original maps approved by the commission, Nicolais said no.

"It's not a strategic problem to challenge an unconstitutional map," he said. "The constitution isn't strategic."

But Bob Loevy, a Republican commission member and a longtime professor of political science at Colorado College, disagreed. He said the outcome was ironic.

"It was a bad mistake" for Republicans to challenge the original maps, Loevy said. "The Republicans were much better off with the (original) maps."

Lockheed says object part of 'sensor technology' testing that ended ThursdayWhat the heck is that thing? It's fair to assume that question was on the minds of many people who traveled along Colo. 128 south of Boulder this week if they happened to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a large, silver projectile perched alongside the highway and pointed north toward town.

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